May 12, 2026  |  SIGN UP

PRESENTED BY

Ronan Shields
SENIOR REPORTER, AD TECH

Amazon is using this year’s Upfront negotiations to sell advertisers on its ad tech infrastructure as much as its streaming and live sports inventory. The company is positioning the negotiations as a rare opportunity to secure long-term commitments not only for media spend, but also for the underlying systems agencies use to plan, buy and optimize campaigns.

Central to that pitch is Amazon’s unified buying platform, which combines its demand-side platform and Ads Console into a single interface with AI-assisted workflows.

Buyers can either let automation handle execution through “Smart Mode” or retain granular control through “Expert Mode,” while Amazon’s Ads Agent can automatically build campaigns from a media brief. The company is also pushing interoperability via its MCP server, allowing agencies to connect Amazon’s tools into their own proprietary systems rather than forcing workflow changes.

The strategy reflects a broader shift in the ad market, where DSPs are increasingly judged less on media access and more on how effectively they connect identity, measurement, automation and commerce signals.

Agencies such as PMG and Horizon are already building systems to dynamically route spend across multiple DSPs, making platforms more interchangeable.

Amazon’s counter is scale and authenticated data. By combining shopping, streaming, and payment signals — alongside premium inventory like live sports — it is betting advertisers will see its infrastructure as the connective layer between media, commerce and AI-driven decision-making.

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